Obama slams Ryan budget on tour

President Barack Obama used the first stop of his cross-country battleground state energy tour Wednesday to blast congressional Republicans who’ve been making fun of his clean-energy agenda and also for proposing budget cuts to solar, wind and other renewable technologies.

And while he didn’t mention Rep. John Fleming by name, Obama quoted the Louisiana Republican’s May 2011 floor speech where he questioned the president for pushing “phony green jobs.”

"He called them phony jobs,” Obama said. “Think about that mindset. That attitude that says, because something is new, it must not be real. If these guys were around when Columbus set sail, they'd be charter members of the Flat Earth Society."

“You'd think that everybody would be supportive of solar panels,” Obama said at a Boulder City, Nev., photovoltaic plant billed as the largest operating in the country. “That's what you'd think and yet, if some politicians have their way, there won't be any more public investments in solar energy.”

The president also went after Republicans on their own turf by touting his efforts to advance an “all of the above” energy supporting production of oil and gas. With U.S. production levels the highest they’ve been in eight years, Obama added, "I want everybody to be clear, because sometimes when you listen to the news and when you listen to these other politicians, they seem to be a bit confused about what I'm saying."

Keeping up a campaign that will soon culminate in a Senate floor vote, the president also rehashed his long-shot call for Congress to repeal $4 billion in oil industry tax breaks and other incentives. "They don't need additional subsidies,” he said. “They are doing fine."

Obama also touted the Commerce Department's announcement Tuesday to slap tariffs on Chinese solar imports, noting the country wasn’t “playing fair” when it comes to its energy subsidies.

"My attitude is when the playing field is level, then American workers and American businesses are always going to win,” Obama said. “That’s why we've got to make sure that our laws are properly enforced."

The White House tour of key November battleground states continues Wednesday with a stop at oil and gas production fields near Carlsbad, N.M.. That’ll be followed Thursday by a visit to the Cushing, Okla., storage yard for pipes to build the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline. There, Obama will sign a memo telling federal agencies to expedite the section of the pipeline between Oklahoma and the Gulf Coast.

Obama concludes the energy trip Thursday in Columbus, Ohio.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 5:38 p.m. on March 21, 2012.